Bahrain bans 'Anonymous' Guy Fawkes mask

A protester in a Guy Fawkes mask participates in an anti-government rally organised by Bahrain's main opposition society Al Wefaq in Budaiya, west of Manama, February 15, 2013 (Reuters / Hamad I Mohammed) / Reuters

The Guy Fawkes mask – which has come to represent a universal symbol of protest – has been banned in Bahrain. The move is the latest in a series of measures implemented by the Gulf state to quell a two-year pro-democracy uprising.

A ban on orders of the mask – which was popularized by the 2005
Hollywood adaption of the comic book ‘V for Vendetta' – has been
ordered by the Gulf kingdom’s Industry and Commerce Minister,
Hassan Fakhro.

The decision was carried out following a request by the country’s
Interior Ministry, which said the move was in the "public
interest," Bahrain’s Official Gazette reports.

The ministry has instructed the country’s border and port
authorities to prevent the masks from being imported, and anyone
attempting to circumvent the ban could potentially be arrested.

The measure has been interpreted as an attempt to eliminate a
potent symbol against the monarchy’s rule. And to deprive
anti-government demonstrators of a means of masking their
identity.

From the 'Occupy' movement in America to Arab Spring uprisings
in neighboring states, the mask has become what the comic’s
illustrator David Lloyd described as a “placard to use in
protest against tyranny.”

Bahrain is now the second Gulf country to ban the use of the
infamous Guy Fawkes visage – the UAE issued a warning proscribing
the wearing of the mask on National Day, December 2.

Bahrain, a country where over 75 percent of the country is Shia,
is ruled by a Sunni monarchy.In February 2011, thousands of
protesters swamped the streets of Bahrain's capital Manama,
demanding democratic reforms and the resignation of Prime Minister
Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa.Since the start of the
uprising, at least 82 protesters have been killed, including nine
children.